The 100-Mile Diet

2008

About the Book

On Saturday, April 19, organizers of the One Book, One Community program invited all of Waterloo Region to “get on the same page” by reading Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon’s The 100-Mile Diet. Their book, published by Random House Canada, was unveiled today as the 2008 One Book, One Community reading selection.

Libraries and bookstores in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the townships have stocked up on extra copies of the book to respond to the anticipated demand from readers eager to participate in this community-wide reading program.

According to Angela Caretta, Chair of the steering committee of One Book, One Community, the success of the program depends on the selection of a Canadian novel by a living author who is available for the “Meet the Author” events in all area municipalities in September. “This year, for the first time, and at the request of some of our readers, we selected a work of non-fiction. The 100-Mile Diet is a warm memoir that will raise awareness and inspire change. We felt that it would touch the people of the Region of Waterloo who are so proud of their rural heritage.”

One Book, One Community was created to promote reading by adults, and to build new connections in the community through the shared experience of reading. “Once people have read the same book,” says Caretta, “they talk to friends and neighbours about how the story resonates in each of their lives. The special twist this year is a surprise ending, so we’ll be asking everyone not to spoil the ending for their friends.”

About the Authors

J.B. MacKinnon is the author or coauthor of four books of nonfiction. His latest, The Once and Future World, was released in 2013. The 100-Mile Diet, co-authored with partner Alisa Smith), was a bestseller widely recognized as a catalyst of the local foods movement.

Alisa Smith, a Vancouver-based freelance writer who has been nominated for a National Magazine Award, has been published in Outside, Explore, Canadian Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Utne, and many other periodicals. The books Way Out There and Liberalized feature her work.